Comments on: Sexual Harassment In Medical School

By: emily

emily — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:29:56 +0000

I would have told the doctor who asked if the student wanted to see his persian cucumber this. Of course if I can put it in a salad afterwards!

By: Can't Believe This Happened To Me

Can't Believe This Happened To Me — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 20:38:31 +0000

I am a female medical student at a foreign medical school who was verbally, physically, emotionally, and sexually harassed by another female medical student (both of us are straight, not lesbian). She was a serial bully and had bullied many other medical students, both male and female.

When I reported the bullying, I was expelled from the medical school, and the bullies were allowed to stay. They claimed I made false allegations.

I was reaccepted to another foreign medical school in a different country, and the old medical school is still trying to smear my reputation, calling my new dean and telling them garbage about me, calling the residency programs in the United States and Canada and asking them not to take me. The new medical school didn’t listen, thankfully, and I still matched into a residency despite all this.

But yes, this does happen.

By: Fred Smith

Fred Smith — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 11:37:17 +0000

Thank you for the good advice on not taking your complaint to the dean of the medical school. I had a serious sexual harrassment complaint and I was told not to take it further it because it would make me seem as though I was instigating the harrassment. He just wanted to cover his own arse. In retrospect I can see that and I wish that I had complained.

By: mo

mo — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:41:18 +0000

This kind of thing makes me nuts. As a staff nurse I have seen this crap and have witnessed the med student deny, deny, deny. After a few more incidents the nurses on their own decided enough was enough and we intervened on behalf of the med student.
We were blunt and we threatened very bad things. She got a written apology and this jerk got yanked out of teaching. Sadly he still is allowed to practice and last we heard he got banned from medical records for grabbing one of the assistants by the breasts and squeezing.

I recommend that if you have a good relationship with your nurses ask one to hang around. A nurse who witnesses this harassment can act quickly with real power. We have a chain of command that reacts to incidents.
Nurses can also limit the scope of reaction.

This is the joy of working as a team. You have our back and we have yours.
Be kind to the nurses…you never know when you may need us to kick someones ass on your behalf.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:52:10 +0000

Wow, I just found this website. It is so nice to see that others have the same problems (sorry, I don’t mean this in a bad way at all.)

My medical school experienced were peppered with things like this, but nowhere as bad. I really wonder if it is more than other industries, but I think it is: Doctors get to control people -> attracts a**holes who like to control people. It is, unfortunately, the same with priests that get to hang around kids. A subset are terrible individuals.

I agree with not taking it to superiors, who do nothing. I have written two complaints during my entire training (now almost an attending) and nothing happened either time. If I were in a case as severe as yours, I would also recommend getting a lawyer, and just bullying them into change back. Nothing else will likely work.

That, and then just getting the heck out of there if the culture is throughout that institution. Spread the word — post the name of the institution!